Part 17Maori reservations

338Maori reservations for communal purposes

(1)The chief executive may, by notice in the Gazette issued on the recommendation of the court, set apart as Maori reservation any Maori freehold land or any General land—

(a)for the purposes of a village site, marae, meeting place, recreation ground, sports ground, bathing place, church site, building site, burial ground, landing place, fishing ground, spring, well, timber reserve, catchment area or other source of water supply, or place of cultural, historical, or scenic interest, or for any other specified purpose; or

(b)that is a wahi tapu, being a place of special significance according to tikanga Maori.

(2)The chief executive may, by notice in the Gazette issued on the recommendation of the court, declare any other Maori freehold land or General land to be included in any Maori reservation, and thereupon the land shall form part of that reservation accordingly.

(3)Except as provided in section 340, every Maori reservation under this section shall be held for the common use or benefit of the owners or of Maori of the class or classes specified in the notice.

(4)Land may be so set apart as or included in a Maori reservation although it is vested in an incorporated body of owners or in the Māori Trustee or in any other trustees, and notwithstanding any provisions of this Act or any other Act as to the disposition or administration of that land.

(5)On the recommendation of the court, the chief executive, by notice in the Gazette, may, in respect of any Maori reservation made under this section, do any 1 or more of the following things:

(a)exclude from the reservation any part of the land comprised in it:

(b)cancel the reservation:

(c)redefine the purposes for which the reservation is made:

(d)redefine the persons or class of persons for whose use or benefit the reservation is made.

(6)No notice under this section shall affect any lease or licence, but no land shall be set apart as a Maori reservation while it is subject to any mortgage or charge.

(7)The court may, by order, vest any Maori reservation in any body corporate or in any 2 or more persons in trust to hold and administer it for the benefit of the persons or class of persons for whose benefit the reservation is made, and may from time to time, as and when it thinks fit, appoint a new trustee or new trustees or additional trustees.

(8)The court may, on the appointment of trustees under subsection (7), or on application at any time thereafter, set out the terms of the trust, and subject to any such terms, the Maori reservation shall be administered in accordance with, and be subject to, any regulations made under subsection (15).

(9)Upon the exclusion of any land from a reservation under this section or the cancellation of any such reservation, the land excluded or the land formerly comprised in the cancelled reservation shall vest, as of its former estate, in the persons in whom it was vested immediately before it was constituted as or included in the Maori reservation, or in their successors.

(10)In any case to which subsection (9) applies, the court may make an order vesting the land or any interest in the land in the person or persons found by the court to be entitled to the land or interest.

(11)Except as provided in subsection (12), the land comprised within a Maori reservation shall, while the reservation subsists, be inalienable, whether to the Crown or to any other person.

(12)The trustees in whom any Maori reservation is vested may, with the consent of the court, grant a lease or occupation licence of the reservation or of any part of it for any term not exceeding 14 years (including any term or terms of renewal), upon and subject to such terms and conditions as the court thinks fit.

(13)The revenue derived from any such lease or occupation licence shall be expended by the trustees as the court directs.

(14)Any lease granted pursuant to subsection (12) for the purposes of education or health may, notwithstanding anything in that subsection, be for a term exceeding 7 years (including any term or terms of renewal) and may confer on the lessee or licensee a right of renewal for 1 or more terms.

(15)The Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council, make all such regulations as, in the Governor-General’s opinion, may be necessary or expedient for giving full effect to the provisions of this section.

(16)Any such regulations may apply to any specified Maori reservation or to any specified class of Maori reservations, or to Maori reservations generally.

(17)Where any Maori reservation (set apart under any Act repealed by this Act or the corresponding provisions of any former Act) is subsisting at the commencement of this Act, this Act, and any regulations made under this Act, have effect,—

(a)in relation to the Maori reservation, as if it were a Maori reservation set apart under this section; and

(b)in relation to any vesting order made in respect of the Maori reservation (under any Act repealed by this Act or the corresponding provisions of any former Act), as if that vesting order were a vesting order made under this section.